


The Flying Boy and the Snake

by Sparkle 94 (acpendra)



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Multi, References to Depression, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-18
Updated: 2019-10-18
Packaged: 2020-12-23 17:42:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21085292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acpendra/pseuds/Sparkle%2094
Summary: An essay about the similarities and dynamic between Yut lung and Eiji Okumura as it plays out in the Manga.





	The Flying Boy and the Snake

The Flying Boy and the Snake 

In the Story of Banana Fish many of the bad guys are depicted as mirrors to what Ash could become and who he is as a person. However, Yut Lung isn’t just another of Ash’s mirrors he also has a great deal in common with Ash’s love interest and secondary protagonist Eiji Okumura and their antagonist dynamic is actually a driving force behind many of their actions. 

The thing about Yut and Eiji’s connection is it is touched upon in the manga. When Shorter first meets Yut lung he states “ He looks like Eiji” later Shorter rejects the idea due to Yut’s black mail and mind games with him by declaring “ I thought you looked like Eiji, your just a snake” however what Shorter and even portions of the fan base fail to realize is. Yut’s similarities to Eiji run a lot deeper than just his face.  
Similar personalities 

Eiji and Yut seem like they could not be more different at first glance. Eiji is the wide eyed new comer to the city. On pg. 119 of volume 3 He asks if Ash’s gun is real since Japan firearms aren’t legal for civilians to carry. This paints him as naive and honestly curious to learn about the new world he’s entered. Yut lung in contrast is presented as cynical, scheming and deceptive lying about his identity from his first meeting with Ash claiming he’s Arthur Dawson’s adopted son. Eiji is crass and often uses swear words and crude gestures when infuriated and Yut’s speech in contrast is always refined even when he’s angry he never swears.

Yet both of them share the trait of resilience when it comes to achieving their goals. In vol 3 on pg. 167, Eiji states a matter of fact he’s going to jump over the wall and get help. This trait shows up again later when Eiji attempts to escape from Yut several times so he can help Ash who’s in the hospital and later planning Ash’s rescue from Golzine.   
Yut displays the same kind of stubborn resolve he reveals in an inner monolog he quietly waited for years for the chance to avenge his mother and later he continues to pursue Blanca despite being turned down as an employer, he relentless in his desire to turn Ash into the perfect enemy etc.……….. In fact Eiji’s escape attempts are the only time Yut actually gives him a sincere compliment that isn’t back handed its not to Eiji’s face, but still. 

Yut and Eiji also both share the same internal issues of low self a steam and guilt on pg. 190 of volume 3 Eiji states “ I just got in the way, I was completely useless” despite being able to escape and call the police. While Yut never states he’s useless the fact he likens himself to Ash by saying “I’m a monster too” does hint at a very negative view of himself. Whenever something goes wrong you can bet Eiji and Yut will be internally beating themselves up and taking all of the blame whether its warranted or not.   
Also both of them have a playful side Eiji likes to troll Ash frequently doing things like wrapping him up like a mummy just for the lolz. Yut tricked Blanca’s one night stand into thinking that Blanca was his gay lover because, he thought it was hilarious. They both are even drawn making the same face that in Japan means “ Nah nah boo, boo” at various points in the manga and don’t get me started on the sass. Eiji is way more open about it but Yut gets in some sly digs as well throughout the series. Also Yut’s playful bickering with Sing also parallels Eiji’s teasing of Ash. They have the same self dermined, sly and playful personality. 

Background   
Since Banana Fish places such emphasize on nurture, I think it’s important to talk about their environments shaped them. I’ve already gone into detail on Yut lung’s background in my essay “ Yut Lung the Boy Who Wanted to Burn it all Down” So I’m just going to be brief Yut was raised to be a child assassin , spy and prostitute this upbringing shaped him as a ruthless, manipulative personality with a mindset geared towards survival and revenge. Eiji was shaped into the complete opposite kind of person.   
In the side story “Fly Boy in the Sky” we get way more of an insight into Eiji’s background. “Maybe because of his problems at home, I heard his fathers in the hospital” (pg. 275). It turns out that Eiji’s Father has been sick for a long time and has a bad liver. It’s also revealed through an argument between Eiji and his mother that she has a tendency to flirt with other men. “How dare you, doing makeup like that will cover for dad not being here” (277).   
This suggests that Eiji has taken a good majority of the responsibility of supporting his family onto his shoulders and beats himself up for constantly not being good enough at his career. This explains Eiji’s tendency to focus all his attention on caring for and meeting Ash’s needs even at his own expense and his poor sense of self. Eiji’s rather difficult background shaped him just as much as Yut’s mafia upbringing helped create him. 

Guide  
While I think that it’s a shame that Yut and Eiji’s dynamic is mostly just used to talk about and help Eiji understand Ash. I still enjoy their scenes together. The interesting thing about this character relationship is how both of them turn the other’s world upside down. Eiji’s very existence drives Yut crazy because it means someone like him Ash does have someone to love. Crushing Eiji becomes Yut’s obsession. As for Eiji he heard bits about Ash’s situation but I think the naked sixteen year old in Dino’s bed drives the awfulness of said situation home for him. “You can’t pretend it was pretty. He did whatever it took to survive” (156). Yut tells Eiji during vol 6, which I consider their first official meeting since before Yut adopted a false persona. 

Here Yut acts as a kind of guide for Eiji into the dark underbelly of corrupt New York. “You can’t turn away any longer. You’ve got to pull yourself together and take a long hard look at the world which Ash belongs” The thing is Yut maybe a bit of a jerk here but he’s not wrong. Eiji has up to this point been recklessly naive and does not seem to grasp the severity of the situation. Eiji himself seems to take Yut’s advice about getting serious to heart especially after witnessing the horror that was Shorter Wong’s death since when escaping Eiji asks Ash for a gun which suggests Eiji has come to except where he is and what he must do.   
The Second Eiji Yut interaction takes place during vol 9. After Yut kidnaps Eiji and basically tells Eiji, he’s useless to Ash and he hates him a lot and Eiji’s response “This is the first time someone talked to me as an enemy” (98). Yut’s response is “In this world there are those who possess pure and simple malice you know” How ridiculous Eiji’s innocence levels are for someone who has lived on planet earth and recently been exposed to mafia shenanigans aside. It seems like the narrative wants to say Yut is Eiji’s first taste of being hated and it’s important for Eiji to accept pure malice exists so he can adapt and that Yut’s hate stuns him because of the fact he’s younger then Eiji but so much more bitter. Which we’ll come back to later. 

Conflict   
Here Yut acts as a physical obstacle that shows the readers what Eiji is actually made of. If things go south for him while he’s under Yut’s thumb Ash isn’t going to race down the hall firing twenty bullets per minute without having to reload his ammo and whisk Eiji away to safety. So this interaction allows us to see what Eiji can do against the mafia without Ash.   
Vol 9 shows Eiji constantly enacting plans to get out of the situation. It’s mentioned by Yut’s staff that Eiji has made several escape attempts by play sick and attacking his associates. He finally escapes in vol 10 chapter one by taking Yut hostage in a sneak attack. Showing once again Eiji is similar to Yut since he employs cunning more so then force in situations where he’s cornered. This is highlighted even more when Yut takes advantage of the language barrier between him and Eiji, to tell his subordinate he has an idea in Chinese. “Their English isn’t very good and frankly; neither is yours so I provided a translation” (pg. 15). Yut tells him coming up with an explanation that sounds logical to throw Eiji off his scent. 

This is the volume that also sets up the conflicting ideologies between the two of them. The unconditional vs conditional approaches to love.   
“As long as you remain Ash’s only weakness, I’ll come after you again” (pg. 25). Yut says declaring war on Eiji. Eiji responds by aiming a gun at him which is the first time, he’s been tempted to do something bad. Eiji of course remembers he’s a shoujo protagonist just in a time to talk about a moral code that’s strong enough to resist everything but Ash Lynx’s abs.

Honestly poking fun aside this is one of the strongest character interaction moments between Yut and Eiji. “No I see you can’t even for Ash” (pg. 26). Yut states after Eiji refuses to shoot him. Yut believes love is expressed and even obtained through acts of violence. “I see the way of it. You simply accept those services he provides you. As if it were no more then you deserved” (pg. 27). Note Yut refers to acts of sacrifice in terms used for business transactions which given his upbringing makes all too much sense. He believes that love always has a price tag attached to it.   
Eiji has always believed and expressed an unconditional type of love not caring about Ash’s past. He doesn’t and never has wanted anything from Ash. It’s why he tells Yut “Someone like you could never understand” it’s the real reason why they find themselves as enemies because Eiji won’t give up on the idea of unconditional love while Yut insists on trying to pervert the concept. Yut wants love but doesn’t believe he’s worthy of it Eiji doesn’t believe he’s worthy of Ash’s love but it’s not about worth for Eiji and never has been. 

Influence   
I can’t help but think Yut had somewhat of an impact on Eiji. As I said before he was his guide to the dark belly of the underworld. The one who gave Eiji time to process everything and adapt to most bad situations. Also after time with Yut, Eiji starts to really see Ash’s dark side for the first time. I’d argue this is due to Yut constantly making comparisons between himself and Ash for most of their hostage chats. 

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Eiji lashes out at Ash for killing armed guys. The very thing Yut argued Ash would do for Eiji. I also find it hard to buy that Eiji just happened to shoot Dino in the last arch when he was unarmed. When Eiji previously stated he was opposed to killing unarmed guys. After Yut not only spelled out how dumb it was letting him live but also demonstrated why this was bad ideas when he teamed up with Dino to completely screw the group over. I do think Eji learned the hard way that just because an enemy is unarmed doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to spare them.   
Lastly Yut taught Eiji not only that hate was possible, but he taught Eiji himself how to hate. “I really hate that guy” Eiji declares in Vol 14 when Yut is mentioned by Sing. This suggests Yut helped Eiji survive whether he meant to or not but in the process he may of infected Eiji in small ways. This gets ignored by the overall narrative and never touched on but it’s still kind of interesting.  
Though it begs the question does Eiji hate Yut for more than kidnaping, nearly killing or going after Ash? Other antagonists have done all of these things. Yet, it’s not Dino or Foxx or any of the mafia goons or Blanca who actually shot him that gets such a strong visceral reaction from Eiji but Yut himself. For a while this puzzled me then suddenly it hit me.   
Maybe Eiji resents Yut for opening up his eyes. He still loves Ash but that doesn’t mean Eiji wanted to think about the people Ash has killed over the years. He wants to help but I doubt the naive boy from Japan wanted to face or even deal with the realities of sex trafficking. Eiji isn’t perfect nor should he have to be and it’s easy for someone to project their resentment for an unfair system particularly one that’s hurt and killed their loved ones onto a group of people or even one single individual. Particularly if said person makes it really easy for those kinds of feelings to manifest. Yut hates Eiji for being a reflection of a better life, and Eiji seems to hate Yut for being a reflection of a very bitter reality. 

Final thoughts  
While Yut and Eiji’s antagonist dynamic is fun and full of dramatic tension the thing about it is at the end of the day. It was pointless Ash the person their fighting over chooses to die and Yut and Eiji were so busy resenting each other they ignored Dino sitting smugly in the back with a bulls eye painted on his shirt. Even Blanca was a better target for some of that well known snark from a certain Snake and Flying boy pair. Instead they choose to hate each other rather than fight the system both of them clearly hated because conflicting ideologies, who was right and wrong took precedence over the bigger picture. And those are all the reasons think this dynamic is interesting and important to the Banana Fish story. 

Citations   
Yoshida, Akimi. Banana Fish Vol 3. Shogakukan inc,1987  
Yoshida,Akimi. Banana Fish Vol 6. Shogakukan inc,1987  
Yoshida, Akimi. Banana Fish Vol 9. Shogakukan inc,1987  
Yoshida, Akimi. Banana Fish Vol 10. Shogakukan inc,1987  
Yoshida, Akimi. Banana Fish Vol 14. Shogakukan inc,1987  
Yoshidia, Akimi. Fly Boy in the Sky. Shogakukan Inc. (Don’t know year due to reading scans of it sorry guys)

**Author's Note:**

> I know i didn't cover every aspect of this dynamic but i had almost nine pages of content. i think i went a bit over board, but i was excited to write this since i have seen very little fandom content talking about this dynamic. Also i'm raiseing the white flag Eiji Okumura is becomeing a character i actually like thanks to the side stories which flesh Eiji out way more then Banana Fish does. I'm thinking of doing either a Shorter character piece or maybe a essay talking about the shows core adult characters i really want to talk about team dads Max and Ibe. Which one would you guys rather see next? Also would you guys be interested if i posted a bunch of Banana Fish prompts? i've got all these weird ideas mostly crossover stuff.


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